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Star Wars: Rebel Assault
Star Wars: Rebel Assault is a rail shooter video game developed and published by LucasArts for the personal computer, Sega CD, Apple Macintosh and 3DO Interactive Multiplayer systems, set in the Star Wars universe. Released in 1993, it is the first CD-ROM-only game to be published by LucasArts. The game's story focuses on a young pilot called Rookie One as he is trained to become a pilot before joining the Rebel Alliance. Summary The game features digitized footage and music from the original movies (although most of the original footage is replaced by CGI rendered sequences), and full speech. Rebel Assault is one of the oldest titles to make use of extensive full motion video (FMV) on the PC. The video was used to display pre-rendered 3D graphics that were far ahead of what a contemporary PC could render in real-time. Developers pre-rendered various environments and battles and the player flew through these environments. The gameplay consists of four mission types: three spaceflight types, and one on foot. The three spaceflight mission types are third person, overhead view, and first person. In all three types, the ship generally follows the same cursor which aims its gunfire. If the player moves the targeting cursor after firing, the shots that were already fired will follow the cursor. 9 of the 15 levels are first person, which has movement more restricted than in other modes. As such, enemy fire cannot be dodged in this mode; instead, the player must shoot the enemy within a set time frame in order to avoid taking damage, much like in a light gun game. Only level 9 falls into the on foot mission type. This level puts the player in a series of three stationary settings, though the player character can be maneuvered horizontally in order to avoid enemy fire. In a few stages, there are branching points, much like those in Panzer Dragoon II. Bonus points are awarded for accuracy and whether secondary objectives are accomplished. In some cases, original footage was filmed for the game with actors, and a Star Destroyer model was digitized (a mini camera 'flew' around it) for a certain mission. Most of the graphics were rendered in 3D. Story The game follows the adventures of a young pilot known as Rookie One, a farmer from Tatooine in the style of Luke Skywalker. The game largely takes place during the events of Episode IV: A New Hope; however, the sequences on Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back are included. The game begins with Rookie One's training, followed by an attack on the Star Destroyer Devastator, after its capture of the Tantive IV in the events of the film. The rebel squad then defends the Rebel Base on Hoth from the attack shown in the Empire Strikes Back, and finally launches assault on the Death Star, with the player taking the place of Luke Skywalker in destroying the battle station. Each of the 15 chapters features its own brief "alternate ending" clip which plays if the player runs out of lives. All of the original characters are replaced by new characters and voices, and in some cases, new situations. For example, Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon are replaced by Commander Jake Farrell in an A-Wing who saves "Rookie One" just before he has to take the final shot on the Death Star. The game was followed by Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire. Version differences The Sega CD version is missing Chapter 7 (Imperial Probe Droids) and skips straight to Chapter 8 (Imperial Walkers), renumbering all subsequent chapters accordingly. The level was presumably omitted because it includes branching paths, and therefore requires the hardware to load FMV backgrounds on split-second notice. The Sega CD version's graphics are also considerably less sharp and detailed than those of the PC and 3DO versions. References External links * Category:Star Wars Category:Video Games Category:Media